2021 Archive
2021 December 17. An informal gathering of PPA members past, present, and future, to reminisce and share stories. Video: https://youtu.be/dM53baJfvvk. See also, Norman Sperling's Astronomical Road Trips that he showed during this meeting.
2021 Nov 19. Blending Reality: a 3D modeling Intermediate Workshop - A continuation from the Blender Primer Workshop, this was geared towards those who have at least played with Blender, 3D modeling, and more. This guided, hands-on workshop focussed on project-based learning, and was open to participant questions and requests. Projects covered in this session included converting to/from 360/fulldome media, customizing 3D NASA models for your dome, and intermediate video and rendering settings. Coordinator Jeff Nee, NASA Museum & Informal Education Alliance (formerly of the Lawrence Hall of Science, UC Berkeley) has used Blender since 2016. The presentation slides are here (with presenter notes & links to Blender files used). Video. Chat.
2021 October Session was Postponed.
2021 Sep 24. The Interactive Show "Mission: Mars" - Mars Exploration will certainly be in the headlines for the next years. Thinking on that and inspired by the Education Modules From Dream to Discovery, we designed the show Mission: Mars. The show is a sequence of short films with different possible paths to follow. The end of the show is up to you to decide. Presenter: Guilherme Frederico Marranghello. Guilherme graduated in physics and PhD in Theoretical Physics. He is the director of Planetário da Unipampa, in the south of Brazil. Video. Chat.
2021 Aug 27. Blending Creativity: a 3D modeling Primer Workshop. For those who have never used, or are just starting to use, the free, 3D modeling software Blender, this guided, hands-on workshop covers the basics on how to use Blender for content creation. Share your creativity with the world! Here are links to detailed, downloadable Slides and Setup suggestions. Coordinator Jeff Nee of the NASA Museum & Informal Education Alliance (formerly of the Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, CA) has been using Blender for his dome since 2016. Video. Chat.
2021 Jul 30. Tips for making videos for virtual planetarium experiences. John Erickson (The Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley, CA) is one of many who have produced and recorded videos while away from the Planetarium. Working at home, with few resources, he has managed some satisfying results using the simplest of tools (zoom recording). He shares his procedure for recording videos, the choices he has made for style and content, what is working well, and what has not worked so well. Video. Chat.
2021 June 25. PPA Old-timers get-together. Present: Steve Craig, Alan Gould, Michael Bennett, Keith Johnson, Tom McDonough, Jon Elvert, Robert Pippin, David Seidel, Edna DeVore, Darryl Sanford, Bing Quock, Gail Chaid, Jim Manning, Norman Sperling, Jack Dunn, Jeff Adkins, Ken Miller, Karl Von Ahnen. Photo (legend). Video.
2021 May 28. Virtual Field Trips in Real Life. Toshi Komatsu, Director of the De Anza College Planetarium, and Mike Askins, part-time presenter at the De Anza College Planetarium. Over the summer of 2020, the De Anza College Planetarium made plans for virtual planetarium field trips: six brand-new programs, using the Next Generation Science Standards as a framework to guide content development, with emphasis on interactivity and engagement. Plans were presented at the WAC e-conference last summer. However, the best laid plans of planetarians often go awry. Toshi and Mike give a sample virtual planetarium field trip, and discuss lessons learned from what was planned, and what is actually done. Video on Youtube. Attendees & Chat.
2021 Apr 30. News from Two PPA Mini Grant Awardees. Alice Few from Pierce College, Lakewood, Washington speaks on using videos and live-stream interaction with Pierce College planetarium staff in a new program where middle school students learn about astronomy, exploration of the Moon or Mars, and an introduction into coding that will allow them to create a sustainable 3D habitat on the Moon or Mars. Nico Van der Merwe from Sutherland Planetarium (South Africa) talks about his fisheye lens astrophotography project to make time-lapse photos of the southern skies and make available freely for anyone to download and use (from the Sutherland Planetarium YouTube channel), as well as a bonus project developing an affordable fisheye projector mobile planetarium for the African continent. Video onYoutube. Attendees (chat)
2021 Apr 22. OBS Intermediate Workshop was led by Mark Percy (Williamsville Spacelab Planetarium), Sean Gillette (Apple Valley unified School District), and Jim Bader (University of Texas Arlington Planetarium). This was a follow-up to the OBS Primer workshop of 2021 March 24. The workshop was organized by Karrie Berglund. Video on Youtube. Chat.
2021 Mar 26. Interactive virtual planetarium experiences, Part 2." Three interactive virtual planetarium veterans lead short presentations. Guilherme Frederico Marranghello of the Planetario da Unipampa in Brazil discusses their past virtual programs and plans for future programs. Caity Sullivan from the Museum of Science in Boston, Massachusetts demonstrates using virtual audio cables and OBS Ninja. Kyle Doane from Digitalis in Bremerton, Washington provides ideas for adding theatrical flair using OBS's green screen and a few props. Discussion and feedback from the audience after each presentation. See seminar recording. Chat.
2021 Mar 24. OBS Primer Workshop was led by Adam Thanz, from the Bays Mountain Planetarium (thanks Adam!). Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) is available free at https://obsproject.com. The workshop was organized by Karrie Berglund, in response to requests received at the February 26 Zoom Seminar. Workshop recording. Workshop outline (PDF). Anti-Circle_GreenScreen.png - Anti-Star_GreenScreen
2021 Feb 26. Interactive virtual planetarium experiences, Part 1: How did they do that? A few veteran virtual virtuosos do short interactive virtual planetarium segments, and explain how they made the magic happen. Special attention paid to Open Broadcaster Software (OBS; https://obsproject.com), that multi-platform open source application for video recording and live streaming that many planetarians are learning to use. [This was the first Planetarians' Zoom Seminar that was zoom-bombed, so the recording has been edited to remove most objectionable segments.] Presenters: Amie Gallagher, Dave Cuomo, and Rod Kennedy; organizer: Karrie Berglund. See seminar recording. Chat. See Tips and Techniques on Virtual Planetarium Programs.